This past Friday, a UW-Whitewater student was arrested during
the State Street Halloween celebrations for carrying a .9 mm
handgun and an extra ammunition clip.

And late last night, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a
proposal that would allow residents to carry such concealed weapons
in the State of Wisconsin. Thankfully, it is sure to receive the
governor’s veto.

But that veto may not hold.

That’s right. Our Wisconsin State Legislature, in its beneficent
wisdom and power, may go so far as to approve a conceal-and-carry
bill by a margin of two-thirds. Sen. David Zien (R-Eau Claire), one
of the primary sponsors of the bill, touted its original passage in
the Senate, saying, “The 24-to-8 vote ensures that we have more
than enough votes to override any possible veto.”

But wait, you say — aren’t the citizens of Wisconsin opposed to
such a law? The answer: a resounding yes. According to a poll
conducted by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center for the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Capital Times, more than
two-thirds, or 69 percent, of residents oppose, in general, “a
proposal to allow people who can legally own handguns to carry
concealed weapons in most public places.”

And, according to a survey sponsored by the Wisconsin Council on
Children and Families, “Twice as many Wisconsin adults (62 percent)
oppose allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons as favor it (31
percent). Even among gun owners, a majority is opposed to allowing
concealed weapons.”

Why, then, does the legislature feel so compelled to pass this
legislation? More importantly, why did it originally pass the State
Senate by a 24-to-8 margin?

The answer can be found in two places: the gun lobby and a small
number of politicians more concerned with their political futures
than the safety of their own constituents.

I am not surprised at the first — the gun lobby has poured
upwards of $100,000 into legislative campaigns throughout Wisconsin
since the mid-1990s in one form or another, according to the
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a non-profit group that tracks
campaign contributions. And the gun lobby is in bed with the
Republican Party — it’s no secret.

The real surprise, or perhaps more accurately, the real
disappointment, lies with the six Democratic state senators who
crossed party lines to join the Senate Republicans supporting this
bill, S.B. 214: Sen. Roger Breske (D-Eland), Sen. Russ Decker
(D-Schofield), Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point), Sen. Mark Meyer
(D-La Crosse), Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) and Sen. Robert
Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie).

Many of these state senators face an uncertain future. Plale’s
old assembly seat was just taken by a Republican, the first to hold
it in decades. Rumors circulate around the Capitol of a possible
recall against him. Breske and Decker have been long-time targets
of Republicans hoping to nail them on a vote that their northern,
primarily rural constituencies oppose.

But what about the law itself? Did these legislators stop to
think about what the ramifications could be for Wisconsin citizens
and for their constituents if this law were to be put into
effect?

Many, and some on this very page, have argued that the
conceal-and-carry law would positively affect safety. One columnist
even posed the interesting scenario, “Imagine yourself passing a
stranger on the street, knowing that he or she could be carrying a
concealed weapon.”

I have — as have the people of Wisconsin, eight reasonable
Democratic state senators, the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police
Association , the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association and the
Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association.

And, coincidentally, we all agree that this bill will not
increase safety or decrease crime. According to James Cardinal,
executive director of the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs
Association (a group that might have a bit of insight on safety
issues), “The main job for those in law enforcement is to protect
and serve. Placing over 37,000 handguns in the hands of Wisconsin’s
citizens potentially places the lives of thousands of Wisconsin’s
law-enforcement officers at risk.”

He’s absolutely right. Increasing safety should not go
hand-in-hand with a policy that encourages people to own guns.

In my mind, if a citizen must own a gun and for some strange
reason feels compelled to have it at all times, that citizen should
keep it visible at all times. I should not have to leave State
Street Brats at bar time wondering if the drunk guy next to me has
a glock in his pocket. That isn’t freedom — it’s fear.

This bill is not about what the people want. It is not about
safety. It is not about doing something to help law
enforcement.

So I’d like to know why six of my fellow Democrats have chosen
to vote for it.

Paul Temple ([email protected]) is a senior
majoring in political science and philosophy. He is a card-carrying
member of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.